Hastings Youth Athletic Club brings baseball back to the community

Coach Bo Brooks helps Jillian Spettle, 3, line up her bat on the T-ball field at Al Wilke Park & Community Center in Hastings on Saturday. The Hastings Youth Athletic Club (HYAC) is offering youth baseball, which includes T-ball for younger kids, for the first time in more than 35 years.

Coaches and players of The Hastings Youth Athletic Club's two new youth baseball teams, the HYAC Cubs and the HYAC Marlins, line up for opening day ceremonies Saturday at Al Wilke Park & Community Center in Hastings.

Coach Bo Brooks helps Jillian Spettle, 3, line up her bat on the T-ball field at Al Wilke Park & Community Center in Hastings on Saturday. The Hastings Youth Athletic Club (HYAC) is offering youth baseball, which includes T-ball for younger kids, for the first time in more than 35 years

For the past 35 years, kids in Hastings who wanted to play organized baseball had to go to St. Augustine, Bunnell or other surrounding communities. That’s not the case any more.

Saturday was opening day for the Hastings Youth Athletic Club’s new youth baseball association at Al Wilke Field, and by all accounts, it was the beginning of something great for the small town located about 18 miles southwest of St. Augustine.

“This is just a start, just a stepping stone,” coordinator Alex Jackson said. “We’re going to move on from here. We are going to rejoice, because all of your beautiful kids are out here participating in this event.”

Joshua Herron, who coaches the HYAC Cubs, agreed.

“This is such an exciting thing for this community,” Herron said. “We’re looking forward to a great year, and these boys and girls are ready to play. I’m glad the kids in Hastings finally got something to do.”

The new youth baseball program is being commissioned by Bernard Benson. The St. Johns County Recreation and Parks Department recently renovated the field in preparation for the program.

“The county really got the ball rolling on this,” Benson said. “They felt like we had something good going on here in Hastings.”

Benson, who is retired from the U.S. Air Force, volunteered to be the new baseball commissioner after Jackson told him about the new program.

“It was something that’s been missing for a lot of years,” Benson said. “We already had basketball and football, so it only seemed right to add baseball.”

Benson said there are 79 children enrolled so far in the program, which is open to both boys and girls and offers baseball for those from ages 7-13, and T-ball for the younger kids. He said the independent association, called Florida-Georgia Baseball, is not affiliated with Little League Baseball.

“We’re just starting out,” Benson said. “We’re going to try to stay as local as we can for now.”

Before the games began Saturday morning, there was a ribbon-cutting ceremony featuring local officials, including Recreation and Parks director Will Smith and superintendent Betsy Clarkson and Hastings Mayor Tom Ward.

Smith said that while the county had provided the facilities and helped put the program together, the real accolades should go to the people in the community.

“The credit should go to the parents,” Smith said. “They’re taking an active role in their children’s lives, getting them involved in structured programs, keeping them off the streets. You keep them in these programs and you won’t have problems in the future with these kids. And credit also goes to the community leaders who are also taking an active role and time out of their lives to make sure these kids have a place to come play.”

After the ribbon was cut, Marlins player Sean Wallis, 12, threw out the first pitch.

“This is a good day today in Hastings,” park maintenance superintendent Dale Vaughn said. “Actually, it’s a great day today in Hastings. This is a success story, and will go on and build, year in and year out. It’s up to this community to stay involved and grow this association.”

Cameron Wilt, 12, plays for the HYAC Braves.

“I’m happy to be here, happy to be playing,” Wilt said. “I’m really looking forward to our first game today.”

Hastings mayor Tom Ward said he was happy with the turnout and that he hoped to see the program become a fixture in the community.

“It’s up to the parents, the grandparents, the uncles and the aunts, to keep these children out here and focused in the right direction,” Ward said. “Let’s make it grow.”